Buddha nature (tathagatagarbha) is the innate potential in all living beings to become a fully awakened buddha. This book discusses a wide range of topics connected with the notion of buddha nature as presented in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and includes an overview of the sutra sources of the tathagatagarbha teachings and the different ways of explaining the meaning of this term. It includes new translations of the Maitreya treatise Mahayanottaratantra (Ratnagotravibhaga), the primary Indian text on the subject, its Indian commentaries, and two (hitherto untranslated) commentaries from the Tibetan Kagyu tradition. Most important, the translators introduction investigates in detail the meditative tradition of using the Mahayanottaratantra as a basis for Mahamudra instructions and the Shentong approach. This is supplemented by translations of a number of short Tibetan meditation manuals from the Kadampa, Kagyu, and Jonang schools that use the Mahayanottaratantra as a work to contemplate and realize ones own buddha nature.

When the Clouds Part: The Uttaratantra and Its Meditative Tradition as a Bridge between Sutra and Tantra, Karl Brunnholzl (Translator), Snow Lion, Hardcover, 1360 pages, 2015, $79.95

Karl Brunnhlzl was trained as a physician and presently works as a Tibetan translator and Buddhist teacher. He studied Tibetology, Buddhology, and Sanskrit at Hamburg University and Tibetan language and Buddhist philosophy and practice at the Marpa Institute for Translators in Kathmandu. Currently he works as a translator and interpreter for the Tsadra Foundation, Nalandabodhi, and the Nitartha Institute. In 2009 he was appointed as the first Western khenpo (abbot in the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages) by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche.

Contents: When The Clouds Part, The Uttaratantra And Its Meditative Tradition As A Bridge Between Sutra And Tantra
Abbreviations	IX
Preface	XI
Acknowledgments	XIII
TRANSLATOR'S INTRODUCTION	1
The Sutra Sources of the Tathagatagarbha Teachings	3
Different Ways of Explaining the Meaning of Tathagatagarbha	53
Explanations of Tathagatagarbha in Indian Texts	54
Tathagatagarbha as the Emptiness That Is a Nonimplicative Negation	55
Tathagatagarbha as Mind's Luminous Nature	57
Tathagatagarbha as the Alaya-Consciousness	63
Tathagatagarbha as a Sentient Being	63
Tathagatagarbha as the Dharmakaya, Suchness, the Disposition, and Nonconceptuality	64
Tibetan Assertions on Tathagatagarbha	65
The History and Transmission of "The Five Dharmas of Maitreya" from India to Tibet	81
The Mahayanottaratantra (Ratnagotravibhaga) and the Ratnagotravibhagavyakhya	93
Texts and Authorships	93
The Meanings of the Titles Ratnagotravibhaga and Mahayanottaratantrasastra	95
The Uttaratantra and Its Relationship with Yogacara	105
The Meditative Tradition of the Uttaratantra and Shentong	123
The Two Approaches of Explaining the Uttaratantra	123
The Shentong Lineages and the Meditative Tradition of the Uttaratantra in the Jonang, Kagyu, and Nyingma Schools	131
Indian Forerunners of Shentong, Early Tibetan Shentongpas, and Their Connection to the Uttaratantra	140
The Uttaratantra and Mahamudra	151
Sutra Mahamudra, Tantra Mahamudra, and Essence Mahamudra	151
The Sutra Sources of Mahamudra	165
Maitripa's Mahamudra of "Mental Nonengagement"	167
Connections between Maitripa's Mahamudra and the Uttaratantra	177
Other Indian Nontantric Treatises on Mahamudra	184
Gampopa's Mahamudra and the Uttaratantra	190
The Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje	202
The Eighth Karmapa, Mikyo Dorje	206
Tagpo Dashi Namgyal	212
Padma Karpo	214
The Eighth Situpa, Chokyi Jungne	216
Other Kagyu Masters on Mahamudra and the Uttaratantra	227
Go Lotsawa's Unique Mahamudra Interpretation of the Uttaratantra	243
The Geden Kagyu Tradition of Mahamudra	278
Overview of the Indian and Tibetan Texts Presented in This Book	283
The Uttaratantra and Ratnagotravibhagavyakhya	283
The Indian Texts on the Uttaratantra	288
The Tibetan Commentaries	301
Instruction Manuals	314
TRANSLATIONS	329
Ratnagotravibhaga Mahayanottaratantrasastra - An Analysis of the Jewel Disposition, A Treatise on the Ultimate Continuum of the Mahayana	331
Chapter 1: The Three Jewels and the Tathagata Heart	337
Chapter 2: Awakening	415
Chapter 3: The Buddha Qualities	429
Chapter 4: Buddha Activity	437
Chapter 5: The Benefit	455
Pith Instructions on "The Treatise on the Ultimate Continuum of the Mahayana" by Sajjana	461
A Commentary on the Meaning of the Words of the "Uttaratantra"	473
A Commentary on "The Treatise on the Ultimate Continuum of the Mahayana," The Heart of the Luminous Sun by Dashi Oser	695
Instructions on "The Ultimate Continuum of the Mahayana" by Monlam Tsultrim	777
The Repository of Wisdom by Monlam Tsultrim	789
The Heart of the Matter of Luminosity by Monlam Tsultrim	797
Pith Instructions on the Wisdom at the Point of Passing when about to Die by Monlam Tsultrim	801
The Lamp That Excellently Elucidates the System of the Proponents of Shentong Madhyamaka by the Eighth Karmapa	803
Guiding Instructions on the View of Great Shentong Madhyamaka - Light Rays of the Stainless Vajra Moon by Jamgon Kongtrul	831
Appendix 1: Selected Indian and Tibetan Comments on Uttaratantra I.27-28	855
Appendix 2: Selected Indian and Tibetan Comments on Uttaratantra I.154-55	901
Appendix 3: Indian and Tibetan Comments on Abhisamayalamkara V.21	943
Appendix 4: The Emptiness Endowed with All Supreme Aspects	953
Appendix 5: The General Explanation of Tathagatagarbha in Yeshe Dorje's Commentary on the Uttaratantra	963
Appendix 6: The Presentation of the Purpose of Teaching Tathagatagarbha in Yeshe Dorje's Commentary on the Uttaratantra	969
Appendix 7: Comparison of the First Six Topics of the Fourth and Fifth Vajra Points in the Uttaratantra with the Same Six Topics in the Mahayanasutralamkara and the Mahayanasamgraha	979
Appendix 8: A Letter from Stainless Expanse and Awareness - a Casual Summary of the "Uttaratantra"	983
Notes	985
English-Sanskrit-Tibetan Glossary	1227
Tibetan-Sanskrit-English Glossary	1231
Selected Bibliography	1235
Index	1259